As the growing season draws to a close for my little garden, I thought I might give an update. Seems like it has rained every day for two weeks so I am just now getting back out into the garden. I didn’t plant Sugar Babies this year. I chose Yellow Dolls and Orangellos. Instead of using pods and planting seedlings, I waited and planted directly into the ground. I dug a hole and mixed manure with the dirt. Here is a pic of the growing plant.
After it was up, I built a hill by removing dirt at the edges to make a moat for water collection and voila. Here is the moat days later. The trench is hard to see at the top and left but it is there. It is deeper on the bottom side to collect runoff water when it rains. And as you can see to the right, the tarp that will cover the ground so I don't have to weed my garden.
Here is a pic.
I generally wait another week because it rains weekly. I test how the water will flow and make adjustments, then I put straw all over the tarp and sit back and watch. This time I had plenty of melons from one hill in which I planted two seeds. Only one plant grew and provided enough so I am happy about that part. Here is a pic of the growing melons.
Notice the straw. Rain passes through and collects in trenches that lead to the main moat. The two on the left are the Yellow Dolls. They are not that heavy and fit in the palm of your hand. Finally, the final product is ready. I have found that once a bud appears you can begin your countdown to picking. The side that touches the ground does turn a cream color. You can thump the melon for a hollow sound. You can also do the countdown from birth. For these yellow dolls, they require 3 weeks to get ready = 21 days. I generally start picking at that time and try one a day until they are gone. They are excellent. Here is a picked product:
Put them in the fridge for a while and then grab a spoon and you can enjoy a sweet treat. I hope everyone had a successful garden this year.